Windows Mobile 6.5
Have you heard any of the news about WinMo 6.5? You can be pardoned if, at the very mention of Windows Mobile, you immediately started to dismiss this post - normally, I would have done the same. Click the picture on the left, though, and I think you’ll change your mind. Microsoft seems like they’ve finally woken up from their hibernation, and put out something worth checking out.
Now, I know that there are a lot of people who will immediately claim that Microsoft copied someone else when they did this, but really, every programmer out there copies someone else, so I won’t really entertain that argument. Face it, when some enterprising programmer builds a program that tweaks a product, and people buy it, what they REALLY wish is that the company that made that product would do that in the first place. The danger to that company comes when someone else comes up with a totally different product – like in the case of Firefox. I’ve talked about how I used Maxthon, and there were about a hundred other “browsers” out there that used the Trident engine, but added on extras. But when Firefox came out, that was (and remains) the real competition. Competition can be good though – IE7 is the best browser MS has released, and IE8 seems to be even better. In fact, going back to the copying argument, MS actually fostered the first development community for a browser with IE add-ons. Firefox just took it one better (and MS STILL hasn’t gotten that part right).
But the WinMo video illustrates exactly why I continue to root for MS. Microsoft is a massive company, and yet it can still move with lightening speed when it’s threatened. Think Zune is a joke? Think of this: In two years Microsoft became the second most sold HD MP3 player. Yes, I know that Apple out-sells them every year, but think about how many other MP3 players are out there that have been selling for years, and MS passed them all in only a few years. That’s really incredible, if you think about it. Are they going to beat Apple? Ha, I don’t think they will any time soon. But, if they were to focus a bit harder, who knows…Remember the XBox?
Until then, I’m looking forward to seeing what some real competition is going to provide consumers in the next few years. It’s an exciting time for a buyer’s market!
